Six Feet Under
by mentalillusions
Summary: One-shot. Thomas finds Anna after she's killed Green and helps out.


A/N:Thomas helps Anna when she kills Green. I suppose this is set later on in the show when that guy who likes Mary comes to stay and brings Green and for some reason Lord G and Bates have gone up to London.

Or, in which Anna is homicidal, Thomas is confused, and Mrs Hughes is sassy.

sorry for any mistakes guys

* * *

A bone chilling scream in the distance makes me look up from my cigarette. After a few seconds of the wailing it stops and there is nothing but silence. But the silence doesn't feel ordinary. It feels charged, and eerie, like there's danger in the air. Curiosity pulls me away from my place leaning against the wall in the courtyard and I begin to tread cautiously towards the village, watching the floor carefully, and making sure not to trip. I really don't know why I feel the need to be cautious, I'm not some silly fool who pisses themselves with fear at any old bump in the night, yet still I feel my pulse begin to rise and my breathing quicken as I see a figure hunched over another which lay still on the floor. I stop dead in my tracks. The silhouetted person begins to shake gently and cry and my instincts tell me to go but, something compels me to walk towards it. From the pitch of the sobbing I assume it's a women, but one can never be too sure; I've seen the hallboy's crying enough times to know that you can't assume a feminine cry makes it a girl. I'm close enough now to see her face, if she were looking up that is; the women stands with her head bowed to the floor and I follow her gaze and catch sight of Mr Gillingham's body lying on the floor, blood pouring from a cut to the side of his head. I suddenly feel my insides twist and I desperately want to go, it was a bad idea to come here, yet my feet stay firmly planted to the floor forcing me to stay. It's too late now anyway, even if I were to just turn and leave, there's no way she wouldn't notice someone right here, I might as well stay.

She startles and looks up, backing away as if in fright as she finally realises someone is standing in front of her, and I catch sight of her face lit only by the moonlight.

"Anna?" I ask, dumbfounded.

"You can't tell anyone!" she says quickly, before pausing and then nervously stepping forward towards me, and breaking out into another chocked wail.

I stand and watch her awkwardly not sure on how I'm supposed to react. Reluctantly, I pull out my handkerchief and try to push it into her balled hands held at her face.

"I hardly think me blowing my nose is at the top of my priorities right now!" she insists, her voice shaky with tears, as she uses the offered handkerchief nonetheless. "Oh god what am I going to do?" she mumbles under her breath, before looking up at me with a more controlled face. "You're going to have to help me; I can't sort this out on my own."

I'm quiet for a moment as all the information processes through my head.

"He's dead?" I ask, already knowing the answer, but hardly believing it as its confirmed by Anna's weary nod of the head. I look at the shovel held loosely in her hand and my brain works over time to try figure it all out and come up with a plan.

"Come with me" I say as I try to pick up Green's lifeless body and sling it over my shoulder.

We walk in silence for a few minutes, the only sounds being our laboured breaths and the twigs breaking under our shoes as we disappear into the darkness of the woods.

"What happened then?" I ask Anna who trails behind me, seemingly unwilling to get any closer.

"I can't tell you." she says simply in a dull tone.

"Look, I'm about to help you bury a corpse which you may or may not have killed, the least you could do is try and explain the situation to me." my words come out sounding harsher than I had intended and I mentally scold myself; this is not an everyday situation and for once a little delicacy is in order. "please." I ask in a softer voice.

I hear her give a long heaving sigh.

"He came to the house because he knew John was in London…and…well…I had to defend myself…in case-I used John's gardening shovel which was by the door, grabbed it and ran outside. When he caught up to me I whacked him over the head…and…well…he died."

She didn't need to say it for me to get the general gist of what she meant. Just because I'm a man, and a homosexual one at that, that doesn't mean that I am blind to the world of a female, and it certainly does not mean I don't care. At the best of times, I care about few, but I do make exceptions; I'm not a monster. I felt sick with the thought, but despite it all I felt my heart warming a little more to Anna having now known that she's now single-handedly committed a murder. I feel a kind of pride on her behalf, although it's probably a very miss placed pride. Nevertheless though, it must feel good to know that he's dead and by her hand. A revenge killing by her husband could never give that kind of satisfaction. That is if she even feels any-I know I would-but, maybe it's different for her. I suppose even with him dead, that pain will never go away. I vaguely wonder why Bates' wasn't the one to kill him first, until I realise I don't give a fuck about Bates' and return to the situation at hand.

I begin to dig a hole and continue on for a couple of hours whilst Anna stands by the side with her face tense, the very image of pain. By the time the hole is deep enough, the early morning sun is beginning to rise. I tell Anna to go and get herself cleaned up. She agrees with little more than a brief nod of her head before turning and walking away. Just as I plonk the body inside, and move the shove to the pile of dirt, she turns and looks around.

"Thank you" she says before going back on her way.

By the time I make it back to the house, I'm an hour late and I'm a mess. I pass Mrs Hughes on the way in, expecting a scolding and a demand for me to explain myself, but instead I get a warm, albeit sad, smile, and a hand on my arm.

"Thank you Thomas."

"It's Mr Barrow now."

She corrects herself. "Thank you Mr Barrow. I never thought I'd say it, but I'm glad it was you." she says in hushed tones, "if it were a proper red blooded man I'd hate to think how she would have reacted. And I dare say your cold blood has dreamt a few dreams about disposing of bodies in a forest." she looks thoughtfully into the distance for a moment. "Maybe now she'll be more at peace, but you realise things will never be the same. I expect this is the beginning of an unusual bond dear Mr Bates will never understand." she says before pacing back to her sitting room, leaving me momentarily speechless, before rushing up to my room and locking the door tightly shut, trapping me in with my thoughts for a while, letting the whole event properly sink in.


End file.
